Child of the Wilderness: Quest for the Jade Stone
by Impure-Rose13
Summary: Guess what? Pan has a daughter. No, not a satyr but a demigod! Her name is Lilly and she has a serious problem and it's not just she shouldn't exsist but that she is unable to control her powers. Read on as she struggles to control her powers and her life
1. Chapter 1

I knew that I was in big trouble the moment the day began. The fact that I shouldn't even exist was just a bonus.

It was just another summer day for me. I was wandering around my mother's green house. This was my favorite place to be when she was working in the shop. The warmth and sun made me feel alive and powerful. I'd been around plants and wildlife since I was born. Being away from the things I've known all my life makes me feel dead and imprisoned. It's weird, I know but it's the way I am. I'm homeschooled by my mother in the afternoons. Schools cut me away from the outside so I go crazy out and don't remember anything afterward. Somehow I had covered the whole school in poisoned ivy. They had called it vandalism and kicked me out. I spend most of my time home or out trying to get people to sign petitions to preserve the wilderness for my mother. She has this obsession to restore the wild. I think it has something to do with my father. He left when I was little and my mom never talks about him. I think he worked on a preserve or something.

I inhale the earthy sweet air and let out a sigh of content. I stretch out onto grass in the back section. I let my eyelids close over my eyes. Before I can drift off into I hear a crash in the shop. Immediately I jump to my feet and crouch some tables. I creep towards the store, grabbing a small gardening hoe off a table. I roll on the ground to the shop door and peer around the corner. My mother was sweeping up a shattered pot off the floor. I heave out a sigh of relief. Even since this morning I'd been on edge. I was lying in the backyard when I heard a twig snap in the nearby woods. I sat up and strained to see through the darkness. I thought I had seen a giant bull standing on its hind legs but it retreated back into the shadows. I put it off as a trick off the shadows and someone's cow had wandered away from their farm. That happened all the time with the neighboring farms. I set down the hoe and walked into the shop.

"What happened," I ask her.

"Oh I just thought I saw something and this pot slipped out of my hands," she replied. She was trembling and her voice was shaken. I'd never seen my mother like this. It frightened me. She swept up the last of the shards and dumped them in the trash. She handed me the keys to her truck.

"Go and get in the truck honey. Start it for me would you? I'll be there in a moment." I hesitated, extremely unnerved and confused.

"Alright." I'd finally said at last. She looked relieved that I hadn't asked any questions. I didn't feel like I needed to. After all, she's my mom. Why shouldn't I trust her? If it was important I know she would tell me. I walk out on the dirt drive way and hop into the passenger seat, sliding the keys into the ignition and turning. The truck roared to life and then purred idly as I waited for my mom to come out. When she finally did she returned with a knap sack and an old envelope. She clambered in and tossed both onto my lap. I looked at her, completely confused. Was she sending me away? What had I done? I mean I know I was blamed for the whole ivy incident but there were no witnesses and I couldn't remember a thing. When she came to pick me up she said she didn't blame me. Before I could ask her a question, she put the truck into gear and sped off down the road. I clutched onto the knapsack with one hand and the door handle with the other for dear life.

"I'm going to tell you the truth Lilly. I know you deserve nothing but. You're father was a god. A Greek god, to be exact."

"What do you mean 'was'," I interrupt her. "I thought gods couldn't die."

"No but they can fade. The wilderness is being destroyed and so he faded. I've been trying to recreate the wild to see him again but it was stupid to try. This is gonna sound harsh but, you shouldn't exist. You're father was Pan, God of the Wild. He was shouldn't have fallen in love with a mortal, but he did. You weren't supposed to be born, but you were. Because I've selfishly kept you, I've put you in danger."

"So I'm not supposed to be alive?" My heart felt like it had shattered into a thousand pieces. I could feel tears threaten to overflow but I willed them back down. "Where am I going then?"

She looked over at me, sorrow deeply set into her jade eyes. For the first time, I'd noticed she was crying herself. "We're going to a camp for children like you, demi-gods. It'll be safe there."

I felt somewhere in those words was buried a lie, hidden like a snake in the grass, but I was too frightened to find it. In the rearview mirror was the bull I'd seen this morning. It was running after us. It rammed into the truck sending us flying through the air and crashing back into the road. Blood poured from a small cut on my head, matting my brown hair to my head. My mom was bleeding from her nose but she was too busy trying to free us both to notice. When she had finally unlatched our seatbelts she pushed me out of the window. She barely had time to crawl out the truck before the bull had rammed it again. It flew farther down the road and land into an explosion of fire and metal. I was watching the fire in a daze as Mom pulled me to my feet. She kept shoving me forward towards a strawberry farm on the side of the road.

_Great__Mom.__Strawberries__will__really__save__us._ I thought to myself. Then I started to notice other things on the farm like an arena, cabins, and a dragon guarding something that looked like a sheep's fleece. What really stood out was the centaur and a cluster of hundreds of campers on top of the hill. The sun glared in my eyes as I tried to make out their faces. I was trying to concentrate so hard that I tripped over a piece of our truck. I slid across the concrete, skinning my knees and hands. I quickly clambered back up and ran as fast as I could. By the sound of it, the bull was right behind us. It took me a minute to notice that I still had a clutch on the knapsack and letter. My mother gave me one last hard shove and I landed in front of the centaur's feet. I turned around in time to see the bull bounce off something that looked like a force field and fly a few yards away. I also noticed that my mom was on the same side as the bull. She smiled sadly at me and waved.

"Mama? Come on Mom. Just two more steps. You love me don't you," I whimpered. The tears became too hard to hold back and they rushed out. She struggled to choke back a sob.

"I can't come with you baby. Mortals can't come across the boundary line easily. I love you so much baby girl." I tried to rush forward to her but the centaur grabbed me and held me back tightly. I screamed and kicked and wriggled but there was no way for me to get loose. I saw the bull get up and shake his head. I saw him lock his eyes onto my mother, and I saw him charge. The whole time my mother never stopped looking at me. If my heart felt like it had been shattered when she said I wasn't supposed to exist, well then this felt like someone was cutting me with those shards.

"I love you Lilly," she said as she blew me a kiss. Those were the last words she would ever say to me because the bull rammed into her, piercing her with his horns and slamming her into a tree. She slumped, dead. I felt all my sadness, anger, and frustration build up deep within me. I screamed like I had never screamed before. Above my head faintly glowed Pan Pipes wrapped in vines of flowers. And that was the last thing I saw before I felt myself slip away.


	2. Chapter 2

Passing out was worse than being awake. When you're awake, things can be over in an instant. When you're asleep things can be replayed over and over. I kept seeing my mom smiling while she was crying, the bull get up and charge, her body getting stabbed and slammed against a tree, and finally her going limp. I thought that maybe I had died too and now this was my eternal damnation for existing. Then the scene changed. To my pleasure it was a meadow of flowers with a small pond at the edge. It was entirely surrounded by a lush green forest full of sounds of living things. I lay down in the lush grasses and stretched out like I would at home. My heart ached with the familiarity of home. If it was possible to cry in a dream I almost did. Before I could, I woke up.

Normal people would freak out to find themselves 100 feet above the ground after passing out. Thankfully I'm not a normal person or I would've fallen to my death. I found myself in a hammock of tree boughs. It was so comfortable that I could've fallen back asleep but I was afraid I would only see more replays. Rolling onto my side, I peered down to see what had happened after I passed out. Half goat men, satyrs I think they're called, were playing their pipes trying to get the plant life to release entangled campers. The campers that were free were trying to hack away the plants unsuccessfully. The centaur was wandering around, inspecting the damage kicking around some gold dust, glitter? He glanced up at me and I rolled back into the trees. I'm not really good with people, being homeschooled and not having any neighbors that came by regularly. When there were customers at Mom's shop, I would go hide in the greenhouse. People just weren't my thing.

"Put me down please," I whispered to the trees with a big sigh. Slowly the trees slipped me from branch to branch until I landed on the ground with a light thump. The centaur started walking towards me and I hide behind a tree trunk. Old habits die hard. I peeked out at him as he approached the tree. I glanced around at the helplessly entangled campers. "Let them go. They didn't do anything" Slowly the plants released their prisoners. As soon as they were free they all started to gather towards me. Immediately I began to regret freeing them. Audiences weren't exactly my type either. All those eyes on me made me feel as though I was on fire. My heartbeat echoed in my ears. I clutched onto the tree tighter. The centaur was right in front of me. I opened my mouth to say something but no words came out. My throat felt rough and dry. Suddenly something dropped at my feet and I jumped back. It took me a moment to realize it was the knap sack with the letter that my mother had given me before we had left. I felt the tears well up in my eyes again. _No!__I__am__not__gonna__cry.__Not__in__front__of__some__many__people._ I snatched them up and clutched them so tight that my fingers turned snow white. For the first time I realized that the letter was addressed to someone. "Chiron" was neatly printed on the envelope. I returned my gaze onto the centaur, completely self conscious.

"What is your name," he asked me.

"Lilly Everlen," I replied trying to keep my voice from shaking.

"My name is Chiron. I'm the camp activities director here at Camp Half-Blood." I glanced back at the envelope.

"I think this was meant for you," I tell him while reaching out the white crinkled and slightly burned envelope. He opened and began reading. The more he read the more his expression changed. I nervously looked around at the ring of campers around me. Some were watching Chiron others were watching me with curiosity or wariness. I felt like I was being caged in. _No!__Stop__thinking__that__way__or__you__'__re__gonna__slip__again._ I watched as Chiron finished the letter. I couldn't decipher what exactly it was that he was thinking from the strange look on his face.

"I must see to something urgent. Grover will show you around Miss Lilly. Everyone return to your activities." With that he galloped off towards a red building. A satyr walked towards me while the rest of the group wandered around aimlessly.

"Hey! I'm Grover! So you're a daughter of Pan, huh? Never heard of that happening," and with that friendly introduction began my tour. There was always a group of kids who followed us around, no doubt waiting for me to blow up again. He showed me around the camp throwing out random facts and making random comments about me being a daughter of Pan. Eventually we came to the cabins.

"Um, there's no cabin for Pan because well… This has never really happened before," he said scratching his head. I shifted my feet nervously.

"I think I'll be fine. I kinda prefer the woods anyway," I said. I kept hearing the kids behind us shuffling and whispering. It was finally pushing me over the edge so I whipped around and snapped, "Nothing gonna happen anytime soon so get lost, would ya?"

Immediately I regretted it. They all stared at me, taken aback. I turned on my heel and took off into the woods. Somewhere behind me I heard Grover yelling for me to come back and something about it danger. There was no way I was going to go back. Hiding was the only real thing I was truly good at. Now that I was in the forest, I could hide anywhere. I kept running until I was out of breath. I flopped down onto the ground to rest. I looked through the tops of the trees, trying to make animals out of their shapes. I began to sing the lullaby that my mother once sang to me when I was little. It talked about a fox trying to trick a crow into dropping him food. Tears leaked from my eyes while I sang, remembering my mother. I remembered the way she looked at peace when she was gardening. The way she always concentrated so hard when she would mend a wounded animal. It was a while before I realized that plants had wound me into a hammock and was gently rocking me. Birds had gathered and were singing the lullaby. Animals of all kinds had gathered around me. My tears still fell but were slowly drying up. I was in awe at the scene before me. I sat up in the hammock and gazed at all the animals. I wiped away the rest of my tears. It felt like a dream. And like a dream, it was shattered. Something rustled in the forest, scattering the animals and sending birds flying with startled cries.

"Up," I yelled at the hammock right before a giant black thing burst through a line of bushes. I was in some serious trouble.


	3. Chapter 3

I tried to make my breathing as quiet as possible but it still didn't help. The big black thing circled around sniffing the ground tracking something's scent. My nerves tingled as I waited for the thing to look up and find me hanging from the trees. It sat down heavily and howled. The sound pierced the still, silent air sending chills running up and down my spine. A small whimper escaped from my lips. Immediately the dog-thing looked up and locked its eyes with mine. It jumped up and started barking excitedly, spinning so fast that it created small dust storms in the dirty. I tried to hunker down into the little hammock as best as I could without falling. Then Grover and two other kids burst through the brushes. The brown haired boy approached the beast with no fear. He reached out and patted the thing on the head.

"Where is she Mrs. O'Leary," he asked the dog. The dog started barking upwards in my direction and jumping around like an overexcited puppy that really needed to pee. The boy would've been trampled if he hadn't jumped back in time. He looked up at me and I ducked back into my cocoon of plants.

"All I see is a bundle of overgrown plants up there. It kinda looks like a nest," said the blonde girl, or so I assume because it didn't sound like the boy or Grover. Grover laughed while the boy was trying to command Mrs. O'Leary to calm down.

"That would be her," Grover told his group. They began to whisper but I was still able to hear what they were saying.

"How do we get her down" asked the boy.

"We could always cut her down with some spears," offered the girl.

"Annabeth, you know that fall could make her break something. Besides that's not exactly a very nice way to meet her," replied the boy. So the blonde girl was Annabeth. Knowing her name made her seem less scary, less foreign.

"Percy's right. I think just talking to her might convince her to come down," Grover said. So the boy was Percy then. Percy and Annabeth. The names rang a bell in the back of my mind. Maybe Grover had talked about them during the tour when I was pretending to listen and completely tuned him out.

"Lilly! Lilly I know you're up there! Can you please come down here? I want you to meet some people," Grover called from down below. I peeked over the edge of the foliage.

"With that thing down there? I'm good up here thank you," I called back down to him. Percy stepped forward.

"She's not a thing. She's Mrs. O'Leary and she's a hell hound. Don't worry she's really friendly." As if to prove his point, he scratched her under the chin until she flopped over for him to scratch his belly. I shook my head.

"I don't belong. I'm not even supposed to exist. I think it's better if I stayed here." This caused them all to frown for a moment. Then Percy looked back to me.

"Well, that's one thing that we have in common then. I'm not really supposed to exist either." For a moment I thought about coming back down. I started to descend but stopped halfway down. I swung my legs over the edge and swung them in the air.

"But you found a place. You made a place for you to belong. I don't think I can do that. I'm not that brave." I let out a sigh. They all huddled back into their group. They whispered too quietly for me to hear. Then I heard beautiful music lift through the air. I was a few feet from the ground when I realized that I was descending down. I fought for control of the plants against the music, which was coming from Grover. I struggled, unsure how exactly to use my powers considering that when I did, I didn't really think about it. Sweat started to bead on my forehead. Percy and Annabeth started to move forward to pull me down. My nerves tingled, my heart pounded and my ears buzzed. A slight terror started to creep into my chest.

"Stay away," I screeched at them. Then all hell broke loose. Plants surged forward and wrapped themselves around the two demigods. The wrapped themselves around them like pythons, strangling the life out of them. Immediately I gave up the struggle with Grover and put all my thoughts into releasing the two. As soon as I landed on the ground Grover surged forward to his friends.

"Make it stop," he pleaded, trying to tear away the thick plants. I pulled my knees to my chest, covered my ears, and squeezed my eyes shut tight.

"I can't! I don't know how to make it stop," I yelled, tears leaking out of my eyes. I tried everything to control my panic, my terror. Releasing them was harder than the other campers. I hadn't thought about it when I did. My heart thumped wildly in my chest. My head felt as though it was filled with helium. Adrenaline surged through my veins. The tears fell faster as the sounds of them gasping for air grew farther separated from one another. Suddenly I felt warmth wrapped around me and my eyes flew open. Grover had me tucked into him. His arms felt like they were holding me together. He covered my eyes with his hands.

"Don't think about it. Rely on your instincts. Take a deep breath, relax your muscles, and clear your mind," he instructed me. Slowly I heard the sound of rustling leaves and heavy breaths. I lifted Grover's hands away from my eyes and watched as the pants sank away back into the forest. Percy rubbed at his throat while Annabeth was massaging her wrists. I felt like such a freak. I had almost killed the first two people that had tried to talk to me. I probably would've if Grover hadn't taken action and saved the day. I stood up and was suddenly aware of how exhausted I was. Spewing godly power without you're control and almost killing people took a lot out of you. I stumbled into Grover. Immediately Percy and Grover were on either side of me holding me up.

"Told you I shouldn't exist. It would be better," I said with a sad smile. And with that I was out like a light.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author**__**'**__**s**____**corner:**_Hey guys! This my first author's corner! This is all because I wanted to answer some of the questions that I got in my review. To **kiwihead136**; this takes place after The Last Olympian. To **It****'****s****me;** the whole situation with Pan being able to claim her will all be cleared later. And lastly, to all those who reviewed, thank you! Leave me reviews and tell me what you think. You're ideas can help my stories go along!

The first of my sense that came back was my hearing. Someone was breathing, or rather snoring, next to me. There was the faint sound of happily chirping birds. Then came my sense of touch. I was lying on a soft bed, silk sheets tucked around me. Whoever was sleeping was half lying on the bed. They had one of their warm hands wrapped around mine. My smell came next. Where ever I was smelled of peppermints, honey, and sunlight. I cracked my eyes open slowly, trying to adjust to the light that was shining through the window. I rubbed them with the back of my free hand. I looked down at the sleeping Grover. I tried to slip my hand from his grab only to earn some angry sleep mumbling and a tighter grip. I smiled and tried not to giggle as his snoring returned to normal.

"So you're awake," came a voice from the doorway. I jumped accidently jostling Grover awake. He sat up straight like he was in school and said some math equation that I didn't even try to understand. I turned to see Chiron in a wheel chair in the doorway. Immediately I looked down at my hands playing with the sheets. My cheeks flamed with shame.

"I'm sorry. I've been quite a lot of trouble," I said avoiding eye contact with him. I brushed back my messy bed head with my hand, probably making it look worse. Chiron wheeled into the bedroom up to the bedside.

"You've been asleep for 2 days you know? Grover wouldn't leave your side," he said. I looked over at Grover who was as red as a ripe tomato. I suppressed a giggle so as to not embarrass him further. He turned to me after shooting Chiron a warning look that said he was marching on enemy territory.

"We're practically family. I just wanted to make sure you were okay," he had said. I gave him a gentle smile.

"Well thanks. I really do appreciate it, Grover. You're like my mom," I told him without thinking. Immediately I felt a hole rip open into my heart. Pulling my emotions back under control and turning my face into a mask, I turn back towards Chiron.

"So what happens now," I ask him. He sat for a moment thinking. Finally he spoke.

"Well I suppose you should meet the camp director. For now, this will be your room until Annabeth designs you a cabin. You can talk to her about how you want it to look." I clambered out from under my sheets and followed Chiron down some halls to the outside, Grover close behind me. We stopped when we reached a man at a table. Chiron parked his wheelchair, clicked something, and climbed out of it. I was surprised to see there was a deep hole. I turned my attention to the sitting man.

"Lilly, this is Mr. D, the camp's director. Dionysus this is Miss Lillian Everlen."

"Just Lilly," I said holding out my hand to shake his. The man grunted in acknowledgment but didn't look up from a weird card game he was playing. I lowered my hand and stood there awkwardly. Finally Chiron cleared his throat and elbowed the man in the ribs.

"So you're the little trouble maker that's just arrived, huh? Try and keep those powers of yours under control would,ya?" Chiron scolded him. My anger started to boil. I'd almost died and my mother was killed by a freak monster and Mr. D had the gall to talk to me like that? I wasn't about to let him get away with it either. I dug my finger nails so hard into my palms that I could feel little trickles of blood. My look of surprise turned into a glare of anger. Dionysus looked up at me.

"Listen! You think I asked for this? You think I wanted a life where my father no longer exists, my mother dies before my eyes, and I'm left all alone. You think I want to be a freak that can't control her powers and shouldn't even exsist," I told him through gritted teeth.

"Um Lilly," Chiron started to say something but I cut him off.

"You don't know what it's like to lose everyone you love and the only ones who loved you," I practically screeched. Grover grabbed my wrist jerked me to attention.

"Calm down! Dionysus is a god. Besides that, plants are starting to cover the porch." One glance around told me that he was right.

"I don't know how to stop it," I said, panic starting to rise.

"Clear your mind. Let go of your anger. Regain your control," he told me.

I took a deep breath, imagining that every time I let out a breath a little more of my anger left with it. Slowly but eventually, all of the plants stopped . Mr. D watched with astonishment but when he saw me watching he blanked out his face and, with a grunt, returned to his card game. I smiled, enjoying the fact that I was able to astonish a god.

"Well, nice to meet you sir. If you don't mind, I'm going to head off to the forest." I told them.

"Not until you get a weapon," Chiron said. "Grover, take her to the armory."

So with that, we left the god and the centaur on the porch and headed off to the armory.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author**__**'**__**s**____**Corner:**___Hey everyone! My updating on this story is probably going to be slowing down with my finals next week. Again thanks to all of the people who left reviews. I really appreciate it when you leave reviews because it kind of gives me a reason to keep going on with the story because someone is reading it. So here we go! Chapter 5!

Going to the armory was a complete waste of time. Nothing really stood out to me and after getting all hyped up on god astonishing energy, I wanted nothing but the best. Grover was obviously not pleased with my pickiness but I couldn't help it. Eventually I got bored searching through heap after heap of all the weapons. I ran from the armory into the woods giggling happily. I felt as though something in the woods was calling to me. I could hear Grover chasing after me from behind, clumsily tripping over roots and cursing in a language I had never studied but somehow knew. My giddiness was hard to drain and it took a long time before I ran out of breath. Even then I still wanted to keep running I leaned up against a tree, trying to fill my lungs with oxygen. They felt as if they were going to burst. I turned around expecting to see a Grover as exhausted as I was, only to find emptiness.

"Very funny Grover! Come out already," I called. The only reply was an echo and a few singing birds."Grover, I'm sorry! Would you come out already? This isn't funny.

I felt a tension crawl into my body. Ice seemed to pump through my veins. I felt as though I were being watched. I went through all the things Grover had said at the Big House. Suddenly a bush rustled and thousands of birds went screeching into the sky. Their cries slowly morphed into thousands of frightened voices. "_Danger,__" __they__screeched.__ "__Danger!__Run__away.__Death__is__coming.__Danger__is__coming!__" _ Suddenly I couldn't get enough air again and I took off through the forest. I tripped and fell over shrubs and old gnarled tree roots. The deeper into the forest I got, the darker and more horror-story like it got. I felt like Red Riding Hood running from the wolf.

I looked behind me as something crashed through after me. That wasn't exactly a smart thing to do on my part though because I ran into the side of a small cliff. My head felt fuzzy and my stomach did flip flops. It took me a minute to realize that I was on the ground, its dampness starting to soak through my t-shirt. Suddenly a tall creature came into view. I leapt to my feet and started climbing up the rocky cliff side. I slipped and sliced the flesh of my palm. I cursed and continued to climb, ignoring the pain. In the little streams of light I could make out the creature as a giant. Knowing what is was made it seem less scary.

That was until it decided to pound the cliff. I pressed my body against the rock as chunks of stone flew down. I tried to climb as high as I could but in the end it didn't really matter. The giant body slammed the cliff. I would've been fine if it hadn't sent down huge chunks of rock flying down towards me. One of them hit me in the head and my hands slipped. I screamed as I dropped like a rock, ironically appropriate, towards the ground and the giant. The whole time I was falling, all I could think of was that I was going to break something and then the giant would get to me.

I finally began to see why Chiron wanted me armed before I went into the forest. I closed my eyes waiting to splatter on the ground. Instead I found myself hitting a large oak branch. Or rather I guess you could say it hit me…hard…in the stomach. I felt like I was going to hurl but when I noticed that I was right above the giant, the adrenaline kicked in. I pulled myself up onto the branch trying, unsuccessfully, to pull me feet up without falling. The giant reached up a thick arm and yanked me down. He held me upside down in front of his face like a child inspecting a pet fish. He sniffed me and roared. His breath smelled like an old moldy gym locker and decaying meat. This time I did throw up.

"How do I always end up in this kind of predicament," I yelled at no one in particular. Apparently, I had startled the giant though because he let go and I dropped 50 feet to the ground. I landed funny smashing my left arm against the ground and bruising my ribs. I coughed and tried to blink away the tears that were welling up in my eyes. I tried to scramble away when the giant grabbed onto my foot. I kicked with all my might and he let go with a yell. My hands groped through the decaying leaves and half dead undergrowth for something, anything to fend off the giant. Finally my hand found something cold and hard. I gripped it hand and rolled over on my back, careful of my left arm. I kicked and crawled across the ground until I was able to lean against a tree. The whole time I felt like my arm was on fire. I pulled the metal object to my chest. It looked like a sword but in the dim light it was impossible to tell. I waited, listening to the giant get closer and closer. It peered its ugly yellowed eyes around the tree and that was all I needed.

I struck out as hard as I could, slashing across its face. It roared in anger and agony as blood seeped from its face. It smashed its fist into the tree, sending it crashing down. I jumped up and ran in the direction towards the giant, trying to escape it only seemed to get me hurt. Slashing and hacking, I struck out at the beast, blood flying everywhere. I felt an overwhelming sense of anger and the need to survive. Finally with an angry roar it fell down dead. I stayed standing, waiting for it to get back up and try to kill me again. I tried to catch my breath, and only when it started to disappear into a pile of gold dust, did I sit back down. My heart raced and my weariness seemed to finally catch up with me. I leaned back against the cliff side partially hidden behind the chunks of cragged rock that had cracked and tumbled down during our battle. I thought about what being a demigod meant.

So far all I could come up with is risk getting killed by mythical creatures. If that was truly it then I wanted nothing to do with being one. I closed my eyes and drifted into sleep. It didn't take more than two seconds before I found myself in a dream. I was in a dark forest; murderous gleaming eyes peered at me through the darkness. I glared back, determined not to be frightened by my own dream but I could feel myself shaking. The trees were thick a leafless. They looked like clawed hands reaching out to me. There was a light up ahead that I could see. When I started to walk the trees seemed to back away, making a clear path. A gigantic jade stone loomed in front of me, catching the only ray of sunlight that fell through the thick woven branches. It seemed to be trying to light up the forest. Suddenly a melodious voice spoke from everywhere at once.

_It__struggles__to__brighten__the__world,__to__bring__back__what__was__lost.__You__are__the__jewel__Lilly__Everlen.__Find__the__light__in__the__world__and__save__what__is__lost.__Only__you__and__you__alone__can__achieve__this._ Before I could get in a single word it ended. I found myself awake once again. Somewhere off in the distance, people were calling my name.

"Over here," I shouted. "I'm over here!" My throat was dry and scratchy; my arm and side throbbed with a dull pain. I still had the sword in my hand. It wasn't long before they found me huddled behind the rock piles. Grover walked over to me with a small smirk on his face. I itched to slap it off.

"You look like hell," he told me.

"I feel like hell," I replied to him. It wasn't too hard to see that he thought I kinda deserved this. He reached down and grabbed my left arm to try and help me up. I screamed in pain and he quickly released it. Chiron came over and looked at it.

"Broken pretty good. We'll have to wait till we can get back to treat it. You should've been armed before you went in here," he said scolding me. I smiled sheepishly.

"But I'm armed now," I raised the sword to show him. His eyes widened. "What? Is something wrong," I asked him.

"That's the Sword of Peleus. It's been lost for centuries. To think it was out here," he trailed off. People gasped in the crowd. I wanted to know what was so special about a hunk of metal but I wanted to get out of the woods and get treated more. So with excited campers and a Chiron deep in thought, we traveled back out of the forest to the camp.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Author**__**'**__**s**____**Corner:**_Heyeveryone!I'msorryaboutthedreamlinesbeingallsmashedtogether.IhavenoIdeawhyit'slikethat.AnywayI'veprettymuchoutlinedmywholestoryonpapersoitwon'tbelongbeforeIgetthisstorywrappedupandthesequel.Hopeyouallenduplikingthisstory!

When Chiron had said he was going to get me patched up, I thought it meant getting a cast on my arm and a few taped up cracked ribs. However, that is not what happened. Instead I ate this square thing that reminded me of a yellow brownie. They called it ambrosia I think. With that I drank nectar, which strangely reminded me of liquid cookies. After that I only felt slightly bruised but not as battered. Through it all I never let go of my sword. I had grown kinda of fond of it. I had ever named it. Leo, the councilor of the Hephaestus cabin, had carved it's name into the handle. I ran my finger over the letters, Akantha.

Somehow I knew that it meant thorn. I liked it. Like a roses thorn, the sword had it's own flower to protect. Chiron had told me it's story.

"It's known as the Sword of Peleus. It' s said to have the power to make it's wielder victorious n any battle or hunt. It's been lost for centuries. It came to you when you needed it most. The sword is yours if you want it. It seems the sword has chosen you after all." I had just simply nodded and pulled it close. Leo was working a way to make it change from a small convenient object like Percy's sword Riptide, that also happened to be a pen.

Before I had even realized it, it was time for dinner. I was led to the Pavillion by Annabeth, Grover, and Percy who were all talking excitedly about some capture the flag game that was going on the next day. I trailed behind them silently, wrapping myself in my own thoughts. I replayed the dream in the forest over and over. I couldn't get pasted the voice, what it had said. "_You__are__the__jewel,__Lilly__Everlen.__Fid__the__light__in__the__world__and__save__what__is__lost.__Only__you,__and__you__alone__can__achieve__this.__"_ Suddenly I collided into the back of Annabeth nearly knocking both me and her over. Luckily she's quick on her feet and kept us both upright.

"Sorry," I muttered, blushing in embarrassment.

"Did you hear what I was telling you," she asked. I shook my head.

"Since you have no cabin or bench you'll be sitting with Chiron, Mr. D, and Rachel. Oh and when we get our food we scrape some off into the fire as tribute to the gods." And with that explaination we entered the Pavilion. I loaded up my plate with pizza and French fries. I scraped off some into the fire thinking of nothing. I had no god to pray to. My godly parent no longer existed and I didn't have anything to pray for from the other gods. I was making my way towards the table that Chiron was sitting at with Mr. D and a red headed girl with a colorful bandanna in her hair that I presumed was Rachel. Then behind me I heard kids gasp and the fire crackle and sputter violently. Chiron had stood up and was staring behind me. I slowly turned around, knowing that I would regret it when I saw what everyone was staring at.

The fire had turned dim blues and purples. A small demon like figure sat crouched in the center it's face blank, it's skin cracked with heat. He raised a black cragged finger at me and I dropped my plate. My body went numb , my arms fell to my side cold with fear. He gestured for me to step closer I looked around. Some campers just stared at me, others stared at the demon. My eyes searched the crowd and I found Annabeth, Percy, and Grover. Percy had a tight grip on Riptide, ready to uncap it at a moments notice. He shook his head and so did Annabeth. Grover just stared at me with fear, pale as a ghost. I probably looked no different. Before I knew it, Chiron was next to me. His hand rested on my shoulder. He squeezed it encouragingly and we both walked towards the black creature. We stopped next to the fire and for a moment it sat that silently.

Then it leapt forward and snatched my wrist. The heat coming off of it seared my skin as it burned patterns into my arm. Tears welled up in my eyes. Then it let go and crawled back into the center of the pit. I cradled my arm and Annabeth rushed over to me with a glass in her hand. She poured cold water over the burns, easing away some of the pain. I glared at the creature in the center and it seemed to smirk. It uttered a single word before falling back into ash and the flames returned to normal. It had said, "Quest."

Chiron called down Rachel. The red haired girl and Chiron talked in hushed whispers while other campers chattered and tried to get a look at my arm. Then Annabeth spoke up.

"Chiron, shouldn't we get her medical treatment," she asked him. He turned to her.

" It'll do nothing. Those burns aren't natural. We can't do anything but cool down the skin," he replied. Then he turned to me. "There must be a quest. Do you mind if Rachel can touch your arm?" I shook my head and the girl came forward , gently touching my skin. Then she jerked , her eyes glowed, and green smoke came out of her mouth. Her voice wasn't her own. _So__this__is__the__oracle,_ I thought to myself.

_**Go forward and seek the stone of jade.**_

_**Bathe the girl in a golden light**_

_**Or shadow it in darkness.**_

_**Three strangers become united.**_

_**Betrayal by the most trusted.**_

_**Secrets shall be discovered**_

_**A new world for the gods**_

_**Saved by a memory.**_

With that, Rachel collapsed and some campers came forward and caught her while another one brought a chair. Apparently this was normal for them.__While others helped Rachel, Chiron and Annabeth were talking.

"A stone of jade. What could that mean," Annabeth asked. Chiron just shook his head.

"I don't know," he said with a frustrated sigh. Nervously I stepped forward.

"I think I do." And with that I told them about the dream in the forest.


	7. Chapter 7

Immediately after I had explained my dream to Chiron and Annabeth, they decided that a quest would be issued. After all, Rachael had already prophesized it. I was put in charge of the quest and I was told that I could bring along with me two other campers. Since I didn't really know any campers, they called out for anyone who wanted to go to step forward. After an awkward silence that seemed to last forever, two guys came forward. One was tall and skinny but slightly muscled. He had blonde hair that reminded me of a baby chick. The other one was equally tall and had tan skin. His hair was black and he kept flipping it to keep it out of his eyes. He looked to be a couple years older than me.

Chiron nodded and told everyone that we would set out in the morning after a meeting. Everyone pretty much shoveled down their pizza and walked off to gossip about the nights events. I stalked away to the Big House to find my bag and pack. It took me a moment to find my room. I hadn't been at camp for a week and already they were sending me off. I sighed as I opened the door to my room. I belly flopped onto the soft bed and groaned in dislike. Being a demigod was kind of becoming a pain in my ass. Eventually I rolled onto my back and got up after complaining to myself. I grabbed my backpack off of a chair that sat in the corner. I tried to toss it onto the bed but it fell short and hit the ground with a soft metallic clink.

Something had slipped out of the back pack and under the bed. I blindly groped under the bed until I felt a cold metal chain. I wrapped it around my hand and pulled it out from under the bed. When I looked at it, immediately my eyes welled up with tears. My mother had remembered to pack my locket in our frantic escape. It was the one of the few things my father had left behind for me. I opened it and was instantly washed in the soft lullaby that my mother sang to me. I had locked this away in a little glass cabinet that had been in my room so I wouldn't lose it. I closed it, cutting off the lullaby, and clasped it around my neck.

_I__won__'__t__ever__take__it__off.__It__'__s__all__I__have__left__of__my__life__before._ I shoved all the clothes and things that I had and set it next to my bed. I crawled under the covers, not bothering to change into my pajamas. In the dark I reopened the locket. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep.

I dreamed of home. I walked down the wooden chairs in my bare feet. Mom was making pancakes on the stove. She turned and smiled at me with such happiness it made my heart squeeze. I tried to speak but my voice wouldn't come out. Suddenly the stove caught fire. She tried to move away but she was handcuffed to the blazing contraption. I tried to run to her, to help her but not matter how fast I ran the farther away she got. Then the scene changed. I was "One" with the forest, a part of its heart. As sudden as the stove, the forest caught fire. I could feel it searing my skin, eating me alive. It roared in my ears and shook the ground. I screamed in agony and sheer terror. My hand lashed out, trying to pry myself from the forest. I hit a tree and started to free myself. A branch wrapped around my wrist. I screamed in frustration and pain, and suddenly I was splashed with freezing cold water.

Immediately my eyes popped open. I sat up, shivering from the cold of my clothes and the fear of burning still fresh in my mind. I looked over and saw Leo rubbing his jaw with one hand and holding my arm in the other. Suddenly my mind clicked and I realized that I had punched him when I was thrashing in my sleep.

"I'm so sorry," I told him, pulling my arm away. Already the skin had turned red and puffy. He was going to have a nasty bruise.

"What were you dreaming? We couldn't wake up no matter how hard we shook you," he replied, still rubbing his jaw.

"Yeah. I ended up having to splash you. Sorry 'bout that by the way," came another voice from the other side of the room. It was the blonde boy from last night. He had the pitch from the night stand in one hand.

"Oh, uh, it's ok. I don't think I would've escaped that nightmare without you," I said, hoping I wasn't blushing. He just smiled at me and left the room. Leo followed him calling out, "The meeting is in an hour. I finished with Akantha so I set it on the table. Grover should be by later to get you. I climbed out of the soaked sheets and spread them on the floor to dry off. I grabbed the hair pin on the table with Akantha carved into it and walked into the bathroom that was connected to my room. I slid out of my cold, wet clothes and tossed them into a bin. I got into the shower and turned on the hot water. It felt like heaven on my burned arm. I scrubbed the smell of campfire from my body and out of my hair. When I was satisfied with my cleanliness I stepped out and dried myself off.

I slipped into a set of jeans and black tank top with lace around the edges. I quickly brushed through my hair, put the hair pin into my pocket, and went back into the bed room. Grover was already there with a bowl of flowers.

"Come sit on the bed. I'll braid your hair so it'll stay out of your face." I smiled and laughed.

"Isn't that something a gay older brother would tell me," I asked him.

"Just shut up and come here." I laughed softly and sat on the bed with him. He French braided my hair, inlaying the flowers from the bowl into it. I hummed the locket's lullaby, fingering the chain around my neck.

"Where did you get the locket," he asked as he tied off the end. I sighed and turned around to face him.

"My mom told me that it was something my father had given me. Apparently he would visit often to see me as a child. Eventually those visits would come less and less." I silently tried to make myself remember but not matter how hard I tried, I was unable to remember my father.

"It's almost time for the meeting. Are you ready?"

"Yeah I guess. Hey who are the two guys that are supposed to go on this adventure with me," I asked. A smile had appeared on his face as he started to explain my traveling companions. The blonde one was Jack Harrison. Apparently he was a child of Apollo and the best archer the camp had to offer. He was supposed to be very smart and friendly.

The tan one with the black hair was David Jones. He was a child of Hermes. Anything that needed to be unlocked was his job. He was a pretty good warrior and not much of a talker. When he had first arrived, before he was claimed, people had thought he might be a child of Hephaestus because he was good at fixing things.

The room the meeting was in wasn't anything I had imagined it would be. I thought it would be a grand room with a large table of some expensive wood. Instead it was a bunch of tables (was that a ping pong table?) pushed together to make enough room for all of the councilors. Chiron pounded one of his hooves for silence as I sat down into a chair next to Percy and Annabeth.

"First thing first, we must discuss where this quest must lead to. Annabeth has an idea as to where this Jade Stone is."

Annabeth stood, "In Lilly's dream, the forest was being swallowed in darkness. There have been reports in Colorado that the heart of the Rocky Mountain forests was growing increasingly thick and twisted. This would explain the darkness. The heart is being shut out from the world. According to my calculations, there is only a week until it completely loses contact with the outside world." She sat down again.

Mom and I had taken a trip to the Rocky Mountains before. It was really beautiful there. Now I was getting to visit it again. Unfortunately this time it wasn't under very good circumstances.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author****'****s****Corner:** I'm back with chapter 8! I'm going to make thoughts and things like that bold instead of italicized because for some reason seems to smash the words together. Ok, that being said I'm going to answer some of the questions! To **Now****Answer****Me****You****That,** I have freaking' idea what you were saying. Sorry about that. To someone with no name, I haven't decided whether it's going to be a LillyXGrover story. I'm leaning towards probably not because it would kinda be incest. You can try and convince me otherwise though! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! I love it when everyone gives me feedback. Heads up! After this story is over there is hopefully going to be a sequel called **Child****of****the****Wilderness:****To****Save****the****Lost.** And now chapter 8!

I knew that staring at people was rude but it was really hard not to. I couldn't help but glance at Argus, the security guy. The guy had eyes everywhere, literally! Our group had gathered after the meeting and were now saying goodbye to some people before we got into a van and got onto an airplane to Colorado. David was laughing with some of his cabin mates, slapping some poor guy on the back. I flinched, imagining how much that had to hurt. Jack was flirting with some girls from the Aphrodite cabin. I turned to find Percy, Annabeth, and Leo waiting for me. Annabeth grabbed me and hugged me before I could respond. She smiled at me.

"Be careful, Wild Child." For some reason she had taken to calling me that. It made sense if you thought about me being the child of the god of the Wild. Grover thought she meant wild as in crazy and totally disagreed with her. Leo gave me a high five and a knuckle bump. He grinned at me.

"Keep that hair pin on you and you'll be just fine," he said. I had a feeling that it took every ounce of his will power to not make some corny joke about a thorn in my side. I turned to Percy last. He was kind of frowning.

"Grover wanted to come but," he started before I cut him off.

"It's okay. I get it. I have to go out there and make a place for me. Nobody's gonna make room for me so I gotta make them move over." Hearing that, he smiled. He high-fived me.

"Come back safe Lilly." With that, my group shuffled into the van and started to make our way to the airport. As we pulled down the road, I noticed Grover hiding in the bushes. I waved at him, trying to hide my fear and sadness behind a smile. He waved back at me, obviously trying to hold back his tears. I bit down on my lip and sat back in my seat, closing my eyes. I wouldn't cry because nobody will make way for a crybaby. I put in my headphones and played songs, washing away reality.

By the time we had gotten to the airport my butt had fallen asleep. I got out of the van and stretched my screaming muscles. I stifled a yawn and went to the back of the van to help Argus unload the luggage. We waved goodbye as he drove off in the van. There was a moment of awkward silence. I figured since I was the quest leader I might as well take charge.

"Let's go check in our luggage," I told the two guys, heading into the airport. They followed obediently like dogs, following at my heels. We checked our bags in with the lady behind the counter, went through security, and made our way through the gate. At the souvenir store I bought some magazines with allowance that had been in my pocket the day my mom took me to camp half blood. Chiron told me they had given her a grave by a small stream up in the better part of the forest near where they played capture the flag. The thought had made me smile.

It was four hour flight to get from New York to Colorado. Jack had slept through half of it and David had been messing around with his computer, which he had pulled out of his bag that seemed to have no end. I pretty much looked out the window the entire time, praying that it wouldn't crash and kill us all. Needless to say, I didn't like planes very much.

When we had gotten off of the plane and gotten our luggage was pretty much when things started to go downhill. David had suddenly tensed, which automatically made both me and Jack tense. My hand went to my pocket where Akantha lay, waiting for me to push down on its green pearl.

"What is it," I whispered.

"I'm sure of it now. There is a red haired guy who has been following us." Jack turned to me.

"What do we do?" **Yeah,****let****'****s****ask****the****new****camper****with****absolutely****no****planning****skills****what****to****do!** Out of the corner I noticed a bus, getting ready to leave.

"Make for that bus over there." With that we ran. I glanced behind when I heard something crash. The red haired guy was chasing after us, crashing into people coming out of an elevator.

"Hurry up! He's right behind us," I screeched in their ears. We crashed into the bus steps as the door closed behind us. The man cursed angrily as the bus pulled out of the airport. David scrambled up the stairs. It took me a minute to realize that I was pinned underneath Jack. That was the first time that I realized he had freckles. They were so light that far away you couldn't notice them. He blushed and scrambled up after David. I climbed the steps and saw David shove our luggage into the overhead racks. I sat down and looked out the window. All we could do now was sit and wait to see where the bus was taking us.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Corner:** Please forgive me and don't shoot me for not updating this story sooner. It's because of the holidays and stuff. I promise I won't take as long to update ever again! Well almost never…. Anyway here is the ninth chapter!

I thought that bus ride would never end. The scene changed from dirt, to town, and then to farms. Who knows where we would've end up if the bus hadn't blown a tire? I was lying with my head against the window when something popped and the bus jerked. My forehead smacked the window and I was thrown forward out of my seat into the one in front of me and finally landed on the floor. Passengers were climbing back into their seats as the bus driver went out to see what happened. I rubbed my head where a bump was starting to form and blood started to rise from it. I slide back into my seat and noticed that Jack and David had been the only two who weren't thrown from their seats. I leaned across the aisle so they could hear me.

"How did you guys keep from getting tossed around," I whispered. Jack grinned while David watched the bus driver from the window.

"Gotta always be ready for anything. That looks like it hurts," Jack said gesturing to my head.

"No kidding," I muttered back wiping away a bead of blood that had started to slide down my head. It seemed that I bled more than usual lately. Finally the bus driver climbed back inside.

"It seems like we blew a tire folks. Now I've called another bus to come and get everyone but it won't be here for an hour." This elicited a lot of groans and angry mutters from the other passengers. David turned to me and Jack.

"We could try and walk from here until we can get to another bus station." I wiped away another bead of blood and thought about it for a minute. There could be another bus stop close by and by the time the other bus got here we could already be on our way.

"Alright let's try." David got our luggage from the racks and handed us our bags. I slipped the knapsack over my shoulder and followed Jack and David to the front of the bus.

"We're gonna walk from here. Thanks for the ride," Jack said to the driver. He opened the door for us and we climbed down the steps.

It took me a while to realize that this was a bad idea. Unfortunately by the time I realized this, it was too late. By then the new bus would've arrived and picked up the stranded passengers. All we could do was ignore our aching muscles and wipe the sweat off our foreheads. I didn't realize it could get so hot in Colorado.

"Well this is a waste. Sorry about this guys."

"It's no problem," Jack said. "I think I see a house up ahead."

The idea of shade and a cold glass of water gave me a boost in strength. We ran the rest of the way to the house. It was almost like a paradise compared to the fields of long grasses and dry shrubs that we had seen walking down the roads. The plant life at this house was alive and luscious green. The trees that grew here hung heavy with fruits of all kinds. It was tempting to reach out to and pick them from the tree. Instead I walked up to the front of the house and knocked on the white wooden door. An old lady came to the door.

"You children look simply famished. Come in, come in!" She herded us inside and sat us down in the parlor. She disappeared through a door and came back with a tray of lemonade and a bowl of fruit. "Eat. Drink. Enjoy yourself." Without any hesitation, we all took glasses and fruits. The lemonade was deliciously sweet. The fruits were ripe and the juices ran down my chin. The old woman smiled and sat down in a chair. Something went off in the back of my head but I pushed it away. I had never felt so hungry before. My head felt fuzzy and I couldn't think about anything but eating more fruit. 'Something is wrong'.

"What are nice children like you doing out here? It's so dreadfully hot today," she said. A small Chihuahua jumped into her lap.

"We're on a quest that we have to go to the Heart of the Rocky Mountains." The words had flown out of my mouth before I could stop them. I stopped eating the fruit and shook my head. I couldn't get my head out of the fog. The Chihuahua growled at me. I glanced over at Jack and David and they were fast asleep in their chairs. My heart started to beat faster. I stood up and knocked over the tray of fruits. The dog jumped off the woman's lap and started to slowly make its way towards me, slowly morphing into a beast with three heads. It had looked like someone had sewn the head of lion onto a goat and changed its tail to a snake.

My fingers fumbled in my pocket for Akantha. Finally I grabbed it and pushed on the pearl. Instantly it became a sword. I stumbled backwards, feeling the effects of the fruit. When I looked back at the old lady, she had transformed into something half snake, half human. I was in deep trouble.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Corner:**Hope you all are enjoying thisstory so far! Please leave me reviews and give me feedback on what you think! Here is chapter 10!

My teammates were asleep, I was fighting the affects of the drugged fruits, and I was going up against a lion-goat-snake thing and an old lady that turned out to be half-snake, half-human. In other words, I was screwed. I tried to stumble back, to find something to use to keep myself up. The beast leapt, aiming at my throat. I swung my sword and slashed across its face. It glared at me and moved next to the woman.

"Lilly Fleur Everlen. Born in Evergreen, Tennessee on March 20th. You hold the Sword of Peleus in your hand. Your mother has just died. You feel anger, anguish, and a need for revenge. Tell me; does those burns on your arm hurt?"

"How do you know all this," I demanded. Her smirk made me want to slap her.

"You told me yourself. That fruit does more than put you into a deep sleep. It's a rather potent truth serum." She turned towards her monstrous pet. "If you're going to kill her, don't use acid." With that, the thing leapt on me. My muscles locked and I couldn't move. It tackled me and pinned my arms down underneath it. I tried to lift Akantha, tried to defend myself but it was too heavy. The drug was still fighting to take effect. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and kicked it with all my might. It was enough to throw it off of me and into the coffee table. Apparently kicking goat-lion-snake monsters just made them extremely pissed because it started attacking me with everything it had. I parried, blocked, and lunged but I was only able to make small cuts on him. I kept stepping back when I smacked into the coffee table and fell down. Akantha fell from my hand and clattered a couple inches from my reach. I crawled towards it and as soon as my fingers touched the hilt I felt a sharp pain in my ankle. The monster thing had sunk the snake tail's fangs into the flesh of my ankle and used that to drag me away from my sword.

"Feel a fire creeping through your veins," she cackled. "That's my sweet chimera's poison dear. Considering your heart is beating so fast right now, it'll spread before the fruits drug can put you to sleep." I kicked the snake away with my other foot and scrambled for Akantha. I reached it and turned around right as the chimera had leapt on me. The sword's blade plunged into its flesh, blood flowing quickly down the blade. I threw the chimera across the floor and struggled to stand. I used David and Jack's chairs to keep me up.

"You'll pay Lilly Everlen! I'll slaughter you for killing my sweet chimera! I'll make you suffer," she screeched at me. She charged at me, nearly knocking over my sleeping companions. Her nails scratched my neck and cheek. I slashed at her and sliced off her arm. She hissed and scrambled away out the door. By the time the fight was over the poison had spread into both my legs and up to my hip. The fruits drug had made my mind too foggy to think straight. I was covered in sweat and felt as though I had been walking in the Antarctic. My vision became blurred and I was shivering. I gripped the arms of the chairs that Jack and David sat in, drugged into a deep sleep. Suddenly there was a sharp pain in my chest and I collapsed to the ground, knocking both chairs over. My breathing became rattled wheezes. My heartbeat grew louder and louder. Before my vision went black I saw David waking up.

"Help me…Help….me….help," I tried to say but my mouth felt like cotton. Then everything went dark.

Dreams are mysterious to me. They can sometimes be whatever it is you wish. Other times they take control of themselves. I never seem to able to control my dreams though because if I could, they wouldn't be so horrible. I dreamed about my mother. She was waiting for me in a field of wild flowers and long green grasses. She was standing under a huge tree looking at the sky. She turned around and opened her arms to me. "I love you Lilly," she said. I ran to hug her but the ground beneath me turned to mud that was pulling me down.

"Mama! Mama," I screamed trying to reach her. She started crying, covering her face with her hands. My muscles ached and my chest felt like someone was hammering on it. I was sinking farther and farther into the mud. I reached out for my mother but she only kept crying, her face covered by her hands. Then she turned to dust and was scattered by the wind. The mud pulled me under and I started to choke on the nasty goo. Then I was falling through black nothingness. I was just falling and falling, all the while crying. The tears floated in the dark, shining dimly like stars. And then there was a light at the end of the darkness.

I jerked awake and gasped, sitting upright. My heart was beating wildly in my chest. David was sitting next to me with his head in his hands. Jack was on the other side, sweat beading across his forehead and tears sliding down his cheek. Suddenly my head ached horribly and my stomach was doing flips. I rubbed my face with my hands. My face was slightly damp and I realized that I had been crying in my sleep again. Jack flung himself at me, enveloping me in a big hug which made me blush slightly.

"I'm so sorry! I should've known better than to eat that fruit. We didn't mean for you to face that by yourself," he said squeezing me tightly. I gave a little laugh and wiped at my eyes.

"How am I still alive? The poison should've killed me already." Jack finally let go of me.

"As a child of Apollo I specialize in archery and I'm pretty good at medical things." He gave me a big goofy grin that made me laugh. He obviously flirted a lot. To be honest it was really hard to not like him.

"Can I have a glass of water?" David got up and left without looking at me. He came with water and handed it to me.

"Thanks." He grunted in acknowledgement and wouldn't look me in the eyes. I chugged down my glass of water and started to think about what our next move should be.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note**: Forgive me! I seemed to have taken forever to update again. It probably take a long time again since I have TCAP next week. I took advantage of today's snow day from school to watch some Harry Potter and get the next chapter written. As you already know, I suck at writing prophecies so I may rewrite it to rhyme later on but I'm thinking of something different since she has those burns. Things are gonna get interesting soon, I promise! Also leave me a review and tell me who you think Lilly should end up with, if she should end up with anyone at all. Now on to the story!

I had fallen back asleep quickly after Jack had healed me. When I woke once more, I found that the boys had set up camp and lay on both sides of me, fast asleep and snoring softly. Carefully and quietly, I clambered out of my makeshift bed and made my way to the window. Outside had turned to night, meaning I had slept for half of the day. My eyes swept the outside terrain, looking for any sign of the snake woman who had tried to kill us all. I leaned my head against the cool window pane, the coolness tingling against my warm skin. My breath fogged the glass and beads of condensation slid down, like tears. I drew a heart in the moist fog. A movement outside lifted my eyes away from the fog drawing. I blinked and rubbed my eyes but what I say still remained.

Outside in the orchard stood my mom staring at me. Glancing back to make sure my companions were still sleeping; I tiptoed my way to the front door. When I opened it the rusty hinges creaked making me flinch. David mumbled something in his sleep about a flower and Jack just snored loudly, then returned to his soft snores. I snatched a jacket from a hook by the door and darted onto the porch. Within seconds I had the jacket on and was stumbling my way through the orchard. It took me a second to realize in my haste to get out here I had lost sight of my mom and was blindly wandering.

"Mom," I shouted, then reprimanded myself for giving away my position to anyone who could hear me. Somewhere in the distance I heard her calling my name. I forgave myself for the moment in my haste to find her. My chest ached with longing and my lungs burned with a need for more oxygen. My legs begged for me to stop running while my head and heart urged to go on. Eventually I came to a clearing where she stood staring at a tall apple tree.

"Mama," I whimpered sprinting to her. I reached out to touch her but as my hand grasped her arm she disappeared. I stood there staring at my hands. A drop of water landed on my palm and I looked up. Raindrops began to fall from the sky, quenching the sun soaked earth and the thirst plants that grew in it. I heard a collective sigh from the plants. I sat beneath the apple tree, escaping from the harsh pelting of the rain but still getting drenched from the drops that found their way through branches and trees.

"You grieve for your lost loved one little one," came a deep voice. I jumped up and glanced around, looking for who it came from ad silently wishing I had grabbed my sword.

"Who's here," I called out hoping I sounded fierce and dangerous.

"There is no one here but you and us trees," it replied. I stared and the trunk of the tree I stood under.

"It's you," I whispered back, in case this was someone's idea of a joke. The tree's branches groaned in such a way that sounded like a yes.

" I am the who knows everything and everyone. I have seen the rise and fall of many. Tell me child, why are you so unable to let go of the past," asked the great voice. I stared at my feet and thought about it's question. Finally I came up with an answer.

"The past is all I have now. Everything I once knew has been taken from me and I no longer have the courage to look forward. So now I look to the past and blindly make my way to the future."

"Your way of thinking may lead to your downfall Lilly Everlen. You walk the edge of the cliff with a blindfold over your eyes. You best be wary or you'll fall." I went back to staring at my feet while I kicked at the muddy ground. The tree sighed gently.

"This rain won't let up anytime soon, you best run back to the farmhouse before you get sick. I'm sure the others will wake and wonder where you are soon." For a moment I stay standing still. I quickly hugged the tree and sprinted toward the direction I thought was the farm house.

It didn't take me long to get there. Carelessly I walked through the door and shut it without any thought about the sleeping guys. I turned to hang up my coat only to come face to face with David. I held back a scream and instead settled for a gasp. His expression was dark and said that he was not very pleased.

"You should not be wondering alone in the night with things out there that won't think twice about killing you," he chided me. I suddenly felt like a kid who just got caught with their hand in a cookie jar.

"Sorry," I mumbled walking past him and throwing the soaked jacket onto the hook I hand got it from. David followed behind me.

"Sorry doesn't cut, Lilly. You- Hey Lilly, watch ou-." He was cut off by a loud crunch that came from underneath my boot. My stomach flipped as I reached for my locket and found it wasn't there. I groaned as I lifted away my foot. My locket must have fallen off when I was fighting the chimera and now I stepped on it. I scooped it up in my hand and opened it. Tiny springs and metal pieces flew off in my hand the lid split in two. I bit my lip to suppress the tears and anger. I walked slowly over to the window sill and laid down the pieces. The moonlight glinted off the broken metal trinket.

"Lilly," he started but I cut him off.

"It's fine. It was my fault I should have realized it fell off earlier and watched where I was stepping. You should go back to sleep, it's still too early to be up. I'm going to plan what our next move is." For awhile he just stood behind me, not saying anything. Then he walked back over to the makeshift cots and laid back down. I slowly made my way over to the chair in a dark corner of the the room. I sat there and covered my eyes with a hand, biting my lip so hard it started to bleed. The burns on my arm ached and the trees lecture echoed in my head. Water dripped from my hair down to my back as I shook from the cold and the grief. All the while a deep voice echoed through my mind 'you best be wary or you'll fall.'


	12. Chapter 12

**Author'sCorner:** Please forgive me for slacking off for like a year (more like 3 or 4 months). I've kind of been busy between school and having to go to the doctors because I have been having horrible headaches. Anyway, I'm hoping an extra long chapter or two while fix that. So instead of slacking off more by writing some more of this; here's chapter 12!

Dawn arrived faster than I expected. I still hadn't really come up with a genius plan either. The only thing I could really think of was catching a bus back to Colorado Springs and going from there. As I said, not really a super, genius plan. One problem was finding out where the nearest bus stop even was. So far all we had seen around us was miles and miles of farm land. Walking to the farm from the broken down bus yesterday had taken a long time. The heat could've killed us itself if we hadn't found the farm house then. The overly peppy news lady on the old TV had said that today was going to be in the 80's. I chuckled to myself.

"At least it's not Arizona," I said to myself, thinking of the blistering heat I had to endure when Mom and I had gone there on a trip. It was 112 degrees before it was even noon. That was the week when I practically lived in the pool. My mom joked around about how I was slowly turning into a fish and how I was going to get gills if I didn't get out of the pool for more than two minutes. My chest ached for the past.

Jack woke up first and apparently he is a morning person. Between singing and constantly turning up the volume on his little pocket radio, he woke up David. David is definitely not a morning person. From the look on his face, I say he would've loved to slug that happy look off of Jack's face. To be honest, I wouldn't have minded. Eventually David was awake enough to make comprehend what people were saying. They sat down in front of me with eager faces to see what their brilliant leader had come up with. I was watching them, waiting for their eagerness to fall into disappointment when I explained my rather vague and ridiculous plan. I braced myself for their rude remarks about my idiocy. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised and somewhat bewildered when they both nodded their approval. I smiled to myself and held back tears of relief and thankful they didn't think pick on me for not thinking this entirely through. Without any other exchange of words, we packed up our living room camp and grabbed some supplies from the house's kitchen. I shoved Akantha into my jeans pocket and wandered outside to find the tree that had spoken to me the night before. After I had gotten back from the grove last night, had I remembered my mother's image. A burning need to ask if it had created her pulsed through me, practically engulfing me with fire. After about a half an hour of blindly running around I gave up and returned to the farm house. Jack and David had finished their packing and were patiently waiting for me to come back. When they spotted me from the porch they grabbed their packs and waited for me to find a bus stop.

The day grew unbearably hot once more but very now and then a pleasant breeze would blow making it at least somewhat bearable. The dirt road was too quiet and it put us all on edge. Every few minutes I would reach into to my pocket just to make sure that Akantha was still there. When my fingers touched the cold metal I felt somewhat comforted. Finally I heard the low rumbling of the engine of a car. Dust rose up in the distance as the car climbed over the hill. We waved and shouted but the car showed no signs of slowing down. Finally I had had enough. My life had changed in a second, I was marked (whether it was good or not, I was unsure), I was attacked by an old lady thing, and I was hot and tired from walking. Angrily I jumped in the middle of the road glaring at the car daring it to hit me. The tires screeched as the driver suddenly slammed on the breaks but the car wouldn't stop fast enough for it not to hit me. My jaw clenched and I held my ground. That is until something hard slammed into me and knocked me aside. The car engine hummed as the car sat idly. I opened my eyes and looked up to find Jack on top of me again. His faint freckles splattered across his face and I blushed as I suddenly became very aware of his closeness. He quickly scrambled up and held out his hand as he looked the other way. I got up off the ground and noticed David talking to the driver. The old man thought we were car thieves or axe murderers and David was frantically trying to explain that we were just lost kids trying to find a bus station. Eventually he agreed to drive us into town to the nearest bus station.

It took nearly an hour before we even arrived in the little town. My legs ached thinking how long it would've taken us to get there if we had walked. The old man dropped us off on a curb and sped off back the way he had originally been heading. We all huddled under the metal awning, attempting to cool off in whatever shade we could. I felt like a melting popsicle even in the shade. By the time the bus came around our water bottles were nearly empty. It may not have been Arizona but the heat killing us all. We all clambered on board the bus and smooshed into one seat. The way everything had gone so far none of us really wanted to seat alone, even if it meant getting hotter than if we had spread out. Through the entire bus ride I was completely tense, my hand tightly around a hairpin Akantha. David and Jack, however didn't seem to have that problem. David was leaning against the window fast asleep while Jack was happily reading his book. My grip tightened when a guy got up to change seats because he needed space for his computer. I excused myself and walked to the back of the greyhound bus to the bathroom.

I splashed cold water on my face and sighed heavily. The coolness felt great on my sticky skin. I stared at myself in the flimsy mirror screwed to the wall. "What are you doing Lily? You gotta focus! Everyone is counting on you!," my reflection lectured. I thought about how not too long ago I was lying in my backyard enjoying the way everything smelled so earthy. I thought about how my mother always lectured me that if I kept laying out there late into the night I was going to get sick. I remembered how she used to make me little crowns of flowers and how I could never quite get it to look as perfect as hers with my clumsy fingers. Suddenly a drop of water landed on my hand. I realized that while I was lost in my memories of home that I had started crying. I jumped when someone knocked on the door.

"Lily are you okay in there," came David's voice from the other side of the door. I quickly wiped my face with the backs of my hands.

"Yeah. I'll be out in a minute," I called back; thankful that my voice didn't sound raspy or choked. 'You walk the edge of the cliff with a blindfold over your eyes. You best be wary or you'll fall'. The tree's voice echoed in my head again. I rubbed my temple and shook my head, hoping that the voice would leave me be as I opened the bathroom door. The rest of the bus ride went smoothly, though I still couldn't relax a bit. When we got off my muscles were stiff and sore and I felt as though I had been on a bed of nails for a few hours. I shook my limbs loose trying to think of a plan when Jack piped up.

"It's going to get dark pretty soon. I think we should get a hotel for now and tonight we can all strategize a plan for what to do next." I nodded my approval and David grunted, something I started to take for his yes because he never said otherwise. We wandered around Colorado Springs for a while until we found a hotel that would rent out a room to three young teens. It was a Motel 8. When we got to the room I tossed my bag on the bed and flopped down next to it. My muscles gave a collective sigh that coarsed through my toes and up to the tip of my head. All of the energy that had been pent up from our bus ride was now begging to be used. A breeze blew in through a window Jack had opened. It carried in the scent of pine needles and damp earth. 'HOME' was the word that ran through my mind. I wanted to run barefoot, wild, and free through the brush and the trees. I wanted to play and talk with the animals and trees. I slipped off my bed and walked over to the door, hoping no one would notice or care. As soon as my hand had pulled open the door, Jack appeared behind me.

"Where are you going," he asked innocently, almost a little flirty.

"I'm going to check out the woods," I replied; attempting feign the same sickly sweet innocence. I knew exactly what he was going to say next.

"Not without us you aren't," he said. 'Called it' I thought to myself.

"Why? I mean, the woods are obviously my turf. It's not like anything is going to be able to attack me and win. I'm practically invincible out there," I argued.

"You're not leaving this room without us," David said; suddenly appearing in the doorway and blocking my way out. I glanced over at the window and considered jumping out of it but figured it wasn't too smart of an idea. The motel manager had been suspicious enough renting out a room to a bunch of teens. The last thing we needed was for him to call the cops on us.

"Fine," I grumbled, lifting up my hands as a sign of utter defeat. Besides, if I needed to I could always give them the slip in the woods for a while.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's note: I am so sorry for not updating sooner! I am going to start making a due date for each new chapter so hopefully I won't be late ever again. Should I take requests to draw scenes from the story? I mean I kinda draw okay and since I have a deviant art account all I would have to do is draw, upload, and post links in the next chapter. Also, I have a favor to ask of everyone and that is to please vote on my polls that I have recently put up because I'm having a lot of problems deciding what I should do. If you would all be so kind to do so I will be able to put up chapters faster having those decisions made (yeah I kinda just bribed ya ;P) Ummmm... I think that is pretty much it, so without further hesitation, Here is chapter 13!**

There was a pleasant breeze in the Rocky Mountain forest. It made all the scents of the earth, pine, and wildflowers mix together. Instantly, I was in love with the forest. Birds chirped their pleasant tunes as I walked, or rather frolicked, between the tall trees. It would have been relaxing and fun if it wasn't for the two guys whispering and burning holes in the back of head as they tromped loudly on fallen twigs and gravel. Their suspicious and rather annoying actions quickly put a damper on my mood and I felt more like repeatedly stabbing them in the face than climbing trees and playing with the birds.

Suddenly, the best idea in the history of ideas popped into my head. I was in my turf, I could control the plants, somewhat at least, to do what I want. And what I wanted at that moment was for them to stop following me. So, concentrating enough to blow up my own brain, my plan was complete. When there was a woosh of air followed by David and Jack yelping in surprise, I knew it had worked. I also knew that neither of the boys was going to be very happy and that I should just sprint away but for some reason I turned around anyway.

_Gotta face them sooner or later._ David's face was scrunched up in a vicious glare that sent a chill down my spine. _If looks could kill I would be dead 100 times over._ Jack's face, on the other hand, was so full of utter shock that guilt twisted my stomach into a knot and I looked away at my feet. However, the guilt didn't last long when I remembered that with them around, I couldn't relax in my own element. Swallowing down my guilt, I returned David's glare with one that I hoped was as equally fierce.

"Put. Us. Down," he growled.

"I will when I can finally relax," I said hiding the shaking in my hands. Whether it was from David's glare or my continuously using magic to keep them up, I don't know. My head was throbbing as I kept the branches intertwining themselves to make it harder for them to get out. The shaking was starting to spread up my arms to my shoulders. For wanting to relax, this wasn't helping but I only needed to keep it up a little longer. Now my legs were shaking but I determinedly kept working the branches as returning David's death glare. My powers seemed eager to pour out of me and it was growing harder to keep them in check. A drop of sweat slid from my temple and down the side of my face. Jack noticed and his eyes doubled in size for some reason but I mostly ignored it. I was too busy trying to keep rein on my powers and ignoring the obscenities that David enjoyed shouting at me.

"Stop! Right now," Jack yelled his voice holding a sort of desperate tone. I shook my head and suddenly wished I hadn't. The movement made my head feel as if it was being split in two with a blazing hot axe. By now I was shaking everywhere, making it hard to keep standing.

_ Just a little more. A little more and I'll be able to stop._ I closed my eyes and tried to keep my concentration, but it was so hard. I felt like I was standing in the middle of a blizzard. David's abusive language suddenly stopped and joined Jack's pleas.

"Stop it! Put us down," he yelled. I didn't move. I squeezed my eyes closed as tight as I could.

"Stop it or you're going to die," Jack yelled. Well, that definitely got my attention. My eyes snapped open and my concentration broke. My knees gave out beneath me and I hit the ground as Jack and David dropped out of the tree and landed with a soft thud. I flinched.

"Are you stupid? You don't know how to control your powers, let alone how much you take," David yelled. Suddenly, I didn't feel so smart anymore. I hadn't thought anything but escaping my group. I fidgeted, still slightly shaking and cold, digging my fingers into the dirt, somewhat calmer from the familiar feeling. David mercifully stopped his rant and kicked a tree, which groaned softly, and ran his hands through his hair. He sat down in the dirt and crossed his arms, glaring silently and the ground.

Jack started to move closer to me and I pulled my knees into my chest. Each step he took, the farther I tried to pull into myself. And suddenly he was sitting right in front of me and I peered at him from over my knee. He started to raise his arm and I pulled back into myself desperatle y trying to make myself disappear. I tensed, waiting for him to hit because my stupidity. I was waiting for a blow that never came. What he did hurt much more.

He hugged me. Everything I didn't want to feel, everything I had locked down tight flowed out. A strong surge of guilt and self hate and loneliness filled me to overflowing. Tears fell from my eyes and no matter how hard I tried, they would not stop. I'd desperatley tried to hold in all the despair, sorrow, and loneliness that my mom's death had left in the place of her in the hole that had been punched in my heart. I had held it in so I could fit in this new world. So I could move forward, I wouldn't look back.

Jack just sat there, holding me and stroking my hair, murmuring comforting things in my ear. He didn't mind when I buried my face into his chest and made is shirt wet, he just held onto me tighter. I almost felt like if he left me go I would drown in my numbing sorrow. I laughed softly against his chest because here was a complete stranger who had only known me for a few days and I was desperately clinging to him as if life would end. I had realised that he was even comforting me in the same way my mother did. In a way, it made me feel lonelier but Jacks arms around me reminded me that I wasn't alone.

"Hey guys! Check this out," David's voice jolted me out of my thoughts. I hadn't noticed that he had wandered off when I was crying. Jack and I set off wandering through the trees, following David's voice. It was almost like a game of Marco Polo without the pool. It was acutally kind of fun. We kept laughing while stumbling around. When we finally found him, I wasn't expecting what was there. My heart began to pound in my chest and my blood felt like it turned into ice in my veins. I almost felt like I was floating out of my body, seeing everything from outside.

There were thousands of dead trees as far as I could see. Some had fallen to the ground , covered in dead brown needles. When the breeze blew by, whatever remaining trees would creak and groan. They almost sounded like they were begging to fall over, for their suffering to be ended by death. I heard hoarse voices whispering in a jumbled mess, making what they were saying indistinguishable. Steadily they got louder and louder and I clapped my hands over my ears to keep from going insane. Suddenly my mind flashed back to the dream I had had when I was sleeping in the Big House. I had become a part of the forest when it had caught on fire. I could feel it searing my skin, eating me alive. It roared in my ears and shook the ground. I screamed in agony and sheer terror. My hand lashed out, trying to pry myself from the forest. I hit a tree and started to free myself. A branch wrapped around my wrist. I screamed in frustration and pain, and suddenly I was splashed with freezing cold water. I had awoken to find that it was Leo, who I had punched in the jaw, and Jack who had thrown water on me to wake up.

Suddenly I was brought back to reality when someone had wrapped their arms around me. I looked up and almost smacked my forehead into David's chin. I felt hot flames creep up my cheeks and knew that I must be blushing. Quickly I looked back down, making my hair fall forward to hide my face. My heart was beating so hard I could hear it even with my hands over my ears.

_No. It's beating too slow to be mine. Maybe it's David's._ But the pulse I could feel on my back didn't match the one I was hearing either. Jack was standing in front of me, blocking my view of the trees but he was still too far away for his heartbeat to be heard. It was loud even with my hands over my ears, impossibly loud to be a human's.

"Do you hear that," I asked. Jack and David looked at me like I had gone off the deep end.

"Do we hear what," they asked in unison.

"That heart beating. How can you not hear it? It's so loud," I said pressing my hands harder against my ears trying to dull the sound.

"There isn't anything beating, Lilly. The only sound we hear is the breeze making the trees groan," Jack replied. I slowly took my hands off my ears. The sounding was deafening and I stumbled a little. Jack righted me and David let go so I could walk around. No matter how many steps I took the beating didn't stop. When I walked towards the dead trees the beating only got faster.

"I have to follow it," I said starting to walk but something grabbed onto my wrists. I turned and found that both David and Jack had reached out when I had started off.

"After you rest for the day. The sun is almost setting and there won't be any light to go by soon," Jack said.

"You might just be hearing things because you're tired and your body is under strain from using your power," David added. I sighed and reluctantly nodded.

I let them herd me back to our hotel room. When we got back, I immediately took a shower letting the warm water wash away all the tension from me. I thought about what the beating could have been but I came up with nothing. I got out and quickly dried and dressed myself. No sooner had I put my shirt on, a pain suddenly shot up my arm. It burned like hell and fell to my knees clutching it to my chest. I cried out as another wave of pain rolled over me and the door shot open with Jack and David behind it.

"What is it," Jack asked crouching down so he was eye level with me.

"Arm," I managed to gasp out.

"Let me see," Jack said but I shook my head. David bent down and pulled my arm away from my chest. The burns I had received from the little imp thing were practically glowing, pulsing.

"Can you walk to the bed," Jack asked. I stood up only to have spots dance before my eyes and blackness spread slowly from the edges of my vision. I quickly sat back down and slowly shook my head, cradling my arm and waiting for my vision to return to normal. Unfortunately, the stars still danced, making my vision blotted. I felt arms reach around me and lift me up. I let my head fall back and looked to see who had me. I couldn't see a face through the spots but I could make out black hair and knew it was David.

"Set her on the bed," I heard Jack say. David gently, carefully set me down and tried to back away. I didn't understand this at the time and I reached out and grabbed his shirt. An embarassing whimpering noise escaped me and if I wasn't in pain and out of it I would've blushed.

"Uh, what should..," David drifted off, unable to finish his sentence.

"It's ok. I think she might just be seeking solace in another person. Just get on the other side and hold on her hand," Jack replied. I could hear him moving around and making things banging together. David moved away from me and I cried out quietly but my distress quickly disappeared as I felt a weight on the other side of the bed and a warm hand wrap around mine. Suddenly Jack was next to me, carefully moving my arm so he could get to the burns.

"What do we do? Chiron said they aren't normal burns," David said.

"I don't know. All we can do is try to make her as comfortable as possible. Hopefully it will pass," Jack said sighing. I heard a small splash and then a coolness on my arm that made me wriggle until David made me settle back down. Jack pressed something into my hand and said, "Eat it."

Using David to sit up, yes I was lying against him but was totally out of it, I bit into what Jack gave me. It was sweet and juicy and I took a few more bites. Suddenly, I was aware of how tired I was and lowered my hand against the sheets. My eyes were slowly sliding shut and I felt the sweet thing being taken from me and being carefully lowered back onto the bed. And then I let myself drift into the peaceful darkness.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note:**** Again, I apologize for not posting sooner, although I never really told you guys when I would be posting again. Anyway, I had my computer taken for a short while and then there were some family troubles but now its back and I can happily continue my story. I beg you all to write reviews for me and give me your opinions, questions, and suggestions. For some reason, I have been struggling with whether or not to make Jack gay and if I should kill off a character. I might just do that in the sequel I'm planning. We are soon approaching the end of this story if everything is gonna go according to plan. Then again I have been veering off of my written story and adding or switching out parts to lengthen or make parts some what more interesting. Well enough of my ramblings, Chapter 14!**

The bright summer sunshine warmed my skin as I lie down in the green fields, a small stream trickling next to me. My eyes closed, the smell of flowers and wet earth fills me up with a sense of security and comfort. A soft laughter rings in the peaceful air and I open my eyes. Sitting up, I see my mother with a man who is giving her the most vivid blue flowers I had ever seen. The rays of sun blocked his face from my view. Curiosity won the best of me and I got up, my white, lacy sundress unfolding itself. I slowly, cautiously start making my way to my mother, my bare feet sinking in the slightly damp earth and soft grass.

This man was making my mother smile in a way I had never before seen. As I came around the other side of the tree they were standing under, the man had started to walk away. I started to follow him; wanting to see his face, wanting to ask him to stay. He made my mother seem so happy. Before I could get to him though, my mother had grabbed my arm and I turned to her. She smiled sadly and stroked my cheek lightly with her thumb.

"It doesn't do good for one to dwell on dreams Lilly, love. It's time for you to walk your own path and leave the past behind you," she said sliding her hand away and holding mine. And for a reason unknown to me, I cried and I tried to go and follow the man but I found I couldn't move. That only made me cry harder, closing my eyes, and her hands tightened around mine.

My eyes opened slowly and I found myself staring at a white ceiling. My throat was scratchy and dry but I found myself unable to get up. Both the boys were lying on the bed on either side of me, successfully pinning me under the covers that they must have slid me under at some point. Each of them had a tight grip on my hand that made my hands tingle slightly. Slowly, and carefully I slid my hands from theirs and wriggled my way out of the covers. I crawled to the foot of the hotel bed and set my feet on the carpeted floor. I was in desperate need of cool water to soothe my burning throat and by now I should be able to get up. Right?

Wrong. I managed to stand for three seconds before my knees buckled and I fell to the floor with a loud thud. The bed squeaked loudly as Jack and David woke up with a jolt at the loud noise. Jack had been so startled that he had rolled out of the bed and fell on the floor too.

"Ha! At least I'm not the only one this morning. The people below us must hate us by now, you know," I said jokingly as I pushed myself into a sitting position against the bed, trying to hide my frustration at being helplessly weak. Jack crawled over, picked me up, and set me on the bed. My voice must have been hoarse because David had appeared by my side with a cup of water. I gratefully chugged its contents and set the empty plastic cup on the bedside table.

"How's your arm this morning," Jack asked. I didn't know why he was asking that. And then the memories of last night came back and I blushed. I had used David as a pillow to sit up! I had even whined and whimpered like a sick child and grabbed onto him.

"Oh my god," I muttered, rubbing my face with my hands. "It's feels fine this morning. I don't know what happened to cause all that last night." Then I remembered them giving me something sweet that made me really tired. "By the way, what did you give me last night?"

Jack walked over to the ice bucket and picked up one of the fruits we had snagged from the old lady who loved nothing more than to kill us. I nodded at him and he set it back down. Out of the corner of my eye I could see David looking slightly embarrassed and red, rubbing the back of his neck. He was as embarrassed about last night as I was. That made me feel a little better.

"We need to go back to the forest. There is something there. I think it might be the "heart" of the forest that I heard yesterday," I said staring down at nothing in particular, thoughts moving through my head so fast that I couldn't really analyze them at all. Head throbbing, arm aching slightly I made to get up again but found that to be a much more difficult task than I had imagined. I couldn't stop my limbs from shaking or my muscles from aching in protest at my attempt for movement. Jack didn't fail to notice my flinching or shaking and was quick to wrap his arm around my waist.

"I don't think you're gonna be able to walk back down there anytime soon," he said. Frustrated he set me back down on the bed. Then, the solution suddenly occurred to me.

"I won't have to walk if one of you can carry me," I voiced my thought. Neither of the boys were that hard to read as I watched their thoughts flicker across their faces. They obviously wanted to keep going on, there was something there that we needed to find. There was also the worry that I wouldn't be able to go anywhere for a while and without me, they could never find the source of the beating. But if one of them could carry me, then we still had a shot.

"I'll carry you," David spoke up. I smiled and nodded. So with a quick brush of the hair and change of clothes we set off once again towards the forest of the Rocky Mountains. It didn't take too long before I could pick up the heart beat. I tried my best to point us all in the direction it was coming from. The sound was beginning to make my skin crawl and itch with irritation and I found it nearly impossible to sit still.

Before I realized it, I squirmed out of David's hold and took off running through the trees.

"Hey! Lilly, wait up," Jack called. Without turning around I shouted back, "I have to follow it!" I ran slower than I normally would because it was difficult to try and track the sound and ignore the shaking of my legs and the slight burning protests from my lungs. Needless to say, Jack and David caught up to me pretty easily. I was too busy glancing at both of them from the corners of my eyes to see the stone wall we were approaching. Luckily, I noticed them both quickly halting and managed to copy them.

"What is this doing out here," I voiced my question.

"It looks like an old stone wall from an old castle or something," Jack replied.

"Well there must be a way around it, the beating is behind it. I'm sure of it," I said. We ran around the length of the wall until we found a small section that was crumbling. With their help, we all managed to clamber over the old, moss covered stones. Inside sat a large manor that looked easily centuries old but extremely well kept. Although there were a few patches of crumbling stone, the building looked steady. We seemed to have dropped into the edge of the beginning of it's courtyard.

"It's farther into the grove in here," I spoke pointing into the thick trees that grew through all of the courtyard. Whoever kept the house decided to just let these plants grow all unruly. Carefully picking our way over the unruly tree roots and plant vines we finally came to the source of the beating.

There was a large wall of densely knitted plants, that were pulsing and giving off a warm light. Hesitantly, I reached out a hand and gently touched it. The plants themselves were warm and soft. For some reason, unknown to me I pressed my ear to the bundle of foliage. Against my will I gave out a slight gasp as I heard voices whispering inside the bundle. Between the all the voices mingling into each other and the sound of the heart beat, which had grown soft now that we had found it, I couldn't discern anything they were saying. The heartbeat slowed down and I began to feel tired. My eyelids started to feel heavy. The warmth of the plants against my face was soothing and my body began relaxing.

This felt like... well, home. It felt like when you'd scrape your knee and your mom kisses it and puts a band-aid on it. It felt like warm cookies by a fire on a cold, rainy day. To sum it up, it felt pretty freaking nice. I no longer heard a breeze or the creaking, groaning moans of the dying trees. All I heard was silence and the slow, gentle heartbeat.

And then a piercing howl rose into the air that was quickly joined by more. They were howls full of anger and hunger, both pain and pride. And they were definitely close. My senses were dulled and I was still in a sleepy daze but panic ran through my chest like I had been pierced with a bullet. There was danger coming our way. I pulled Akantha out of my hair where I had put it that morning and quickly transformed it into a sword. My feet felt like lead and dread began to fill the hole panic had made in my chest when I realized that I wasn't going to be able to put up much of a fight.

I prayed to whatever gods that would listen to let me be able to talk these wolves into leaving. Suddenly bright yellow eyes came through and bush and it only took seconds to realize that the entire pack had surrounded us. Our path to escape was effectively blocked. The silver furred creatures growled and nipped at our heels as I turned eyeing all of them. I stared the biggest of them right in the eye, figuring it must be the alpha.

"Don't attack. We mean no harm and have no intention of becoming a meal for your pack. Keep heading west and leave us be," I spoke as calmly and as firmly as I could. The wolf gave a deep growl.

"You have trespassed onto our territory girl. We have every right to snap your weak little body in half," it spat. And then it smirked, if wolves can smirk, "And besides, we find you half-bloods to be quite a delicacy. You'll understand that we cannot let a treat such as you three wander away," it snarled.

I felt all the blood drain from my face and I felt a little light headed. My knees felt like they would give at any moment. The wolves began to advance again, closing the circle tighter and tighter. We wouldn't last long after they attacked us.

Suddenly a man stepped forward and the wolves backed off slightly. Enough to give us and him room but not enough to let us slip through their hold. The guy wore different animal skins that, judging by the smell, weren't cured. I tried desperately to not start gagging.

My grip on Akantha tightened and I raised the blade so it was level to his chest. The wolves growled softly but didn't come any closer. Deep in my gut, I knew this guy wasn't completely human. He had an off, almost animalistic presence to him. By the way the pack reacted, this man was the alpha. My small group stood back to back, shoulder to shoulder, trying to cover each other desperately but knowing that we stood no chance of surviving this ordeal.

The guy walked towards us, only stopping when his chest reached the tip of my blade. He grinned a horrible smile that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

"You are a very rare half-blood. The blood of the wild runs through your veins. You might prove very valuable to me. So, join me and my pack. Become an alpha and rule with me," he said. I felt sick to my stomach. Jack grabbed my wrist and out of the corner of my eye I saw him shake his head.

How could we get out of this mess?


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Okay, you can hit me if you really want to. I know I'm super horrible when it comes to updating frequently. I'm making myself a little calendar on my phone so that I will remember to write and update on time. I have also had a bit of a writer's block on this one for a while. I have been a bit unsure how to continue this one. Well, I hope you guys like what I have manage to think up.**

We were seriously screwed. Our backs were against a wall and we had no room to escape. Surrounded by a pack of wolves, our only options were I practically marry the crazy guy who lead the pack or enjoy being ripped apart and eaten alive along with David and Jack. We maybe could have fought them off if it wasn't for the fact that I was so weak and exhausted that I could barely stand.

I knew this situation was all my fault. I was the one who tried to trap my team mates. And for what? Just because I was too stupid to ask them to stop whispering, I nearly killed myself. Not to mention I just had to let myself get burned by that freaky imp thing. I had pretty much handed my arm over and let it burn me. Now my friends were going to die because of my mistakes. To say I was feeling guilty would be an understatement at this point. I was practically drowning in it by now. From where I was standing, there was only one way to rectify the situation.

"What happens to my friends if I agree to go with you," I asked, not dropping the sword I had leveled with his heart. His wicked grin spread until I thought his face would be split in half.

"They will be spared, of course," he replied. "That is, if you promise to stay forever." Jack's grip on my wrist tightened until it was almost painful and David slid closer to me until he was close enough to whisper in my ear.

"Don't make promises you can't keep," he desperately pleaded.

"But this is one that I can keep," I whispered back, thankful that none of the sadness I felt showed in my voice. Out of the corner of my eye I could see him stiffen for a second and shift away a bit. Jack's grip slackened until it was barely grabbing my arm. I turned my attention to the enemy.

"What is your name," I demanded.

"Lycaon, my sweet flower," he replied. Taking a deep breath I continued.

"Lycaon. If you can keep your promise then I will agree to join you," I spoke with my head held high and my sword slowly lowering. I tossed Akantha away somewhere in the orchard, hoping for the chance to grab it again. He grabbed my wrist and yanked my forwards, causing me to bump into him. He easily pinned me against him, arms tucked under me unable to move. He bent his head down and whispered, "Good. Wouldn't want such a pretty little flower to die a painful, would we?"

He breath ghosted across the back of my neck and I was unable to suppress the shudder it caused. This guy was definitely insane. Thankfully he turned his attention back to his pack.

"Take them to the dungeon," he barked. At this I began to tug and squirm.

"You said they would be free! You lied! They're suppose to be safe," I screeched, desperately trying to get myself out of his clutches. Considering how much strength I had at the moment, it must have been like a bunny fighting a lion. He just squeezed me harder until I thought my bones would break and I let out a pained yelp.

"I said they would be spared. I never said they could go free. I don't need them returning here with more half breeds," he snarled. Jack and David were led away by wolves who would snap at their ankles every other minute. It was all the willpower I had to not cry and scream. While I watched them be led away Lycaon reached up and grabbed my braid, harshly yanking my head back.

"You're mine now, girl. I can't have you escaping or helping your friends get away, now can I?" He spun me around and clamped his hand down painfully on the back of my neck, steering me through the castle. Although it was a bit dirty, everything seemed to be well kept. Eventually he shoved me to the top of some tower and locked me in a room with an omega to keep an eye on me.

"Perfect for the damsel in distress, don't you think," he laughed as he made his back.

"Real original," I screamed. I picked up a small mirror off a table shoved in the corner of the room and chucked it at the door. It smashed into a million little shards. It really didn't accomplish anything but it did make me feel a bit better. I made to grab something else to throw when I was tackled to the stone ground by a large growling ball of fur. I had completely forgotten the "guard" that had been left with me. My anger and the new threat had adrenaline pumping through my system, allowing me to shove it off me and roll away.

"You wouldn't dare to attack your new alpha," I growled.

"If I must, then I will," she growled back. Instead of responding, I turned my attention towards the window. It was rather narrow but if I turned the right way, I was sure I could fit. The only problem was I had nothing to land on and if I jumped out with nothing I was sure to go splat. The only plants that were growing near was the ivy crawling along the side of the tower. There was no way it would be thick or strong enough to save me from falling to my death.

Even more frustrated than before, I flung myself onto the bed that rested in the corner of the room. I kicked off sheets and threw pillows. It was then that I remembered some bedtimes stories I had been read as a little girl. When someone had been locked in a tower, they tied their sheets together as a makeshift rope of sorts. I walked around the she wolf and grabbed a shard of the mirror. It's edges were sharp and cut painfully into my palm, but is was the only tool I had. I set to work in cutting the sheets and weaving them together.

"So, why does your leader want me," I asked, glancing up at the wolf. Her fur was a beautiful silver gray color and her eyes were golden. She seemed different from the other wolves in the pack but I couldn't figure out why.

"The patron. She asked him to grab you. She needs you for some reason," she replied, lying up next to the side of the bed.

"A patron? Who is your patron," I asked. At this the wolf looked up, gold eyes locking onto green.

"The very earth itself," was all she said. Well this was just grand news! Not only was I up against a pack of wolves and it's deranged and rather violent leader, but also the entire earth! Being a demigod that only held powers over the things in the earth, I was kind of screwed. Sometimes, I hate my life. This was one of those times. By the time the rope had gotten finished, the sun was beginning to set, turning the sky into a multitude of lovely colors.

I only had time to tie one end to the bed when the door burst open. Lycaon strode into the room, taking only a moment to assess the situation before him.

"Oh, no no no. I don't think we can have you escaping. That just wouldn't do," he tsked, easily ripping the fabric from the post, kicking the little wolf as he passed. It was then I realized how she was different. She had scars and small cuts on her body. He tossed a green dress towards me and I caught it in surprise.

"Put that on. You're going to meet the great mother, Gaea," he said, standing in the doorway. I waited a few minutes before I realized he wasn't going to leave.

"Well I'm not gonna change with you watching me,"I protested. He rolled his eyes and left the room, shutting the door.

"You have to help me", I pleaded with the wolf. She flattened her ears in response, tilting her head to the side. "I know you can't like getting hit. I can take you away with me. We can be free together. I need you to make sure that I get my sword. It might look like hairpin. I need you to get it to me."

To my relief, she nodded her head. I began to frantically change into the dress before Lycaon got impatient and barge in. As soon as I pulled up the zipper the last inch, the door opened. I pulled my hair out of it's braid, letting in cascade in waves around my shoulders. Lycaon walked over and non too gently put a crown of flowers atop my head and slid gloves up my arms. He strapped sandals to my feet and pulled me back down the stairs. I could already tell that his rough grip was going to leave a bruise.

When he finally let go of me, we were somewhere deep in the orchard. Jack and David were off the side, a little bruised and scratched but otherwise looking fine.

"Oh great patron of the earth! I am here as you have told me, everything is ready," Lycaon called out, arms raised into the sky. Suddenly a woman appeared in the earth. Her eyes were closed as if she were asleep but she spoke all the same.

"Good. You have done well," she praised.

"What is going on here," I asked. Lycaon turned his head and looked back at me with a chilling smirk.

"You're going to be sacrificed," he replied.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I think this story is starting to come to a close. Don't worry! There is going to be a sequel if I think of enough things to put in it. I might put a page of explanations after the final chapter of this story so people who didn't get their questions answered or didn't know if they were answered will be able to understand it in the end. Thank you for reading my story and sticking with me. Now, I give chapter 16**

The first thought that registered in my mind was that I was going to die. The second was that Jack and David were going to die right after me. Is it weird that the second thought was the one that scared me the most? I hadn't known these two people a week ago. Now their safety was more important to me than my own. Somehow, I had to get them out of the mess I created.

When I spotted the wolf that had guarded my room with my hair pin in her mouth, my heart soared. Checking to make sure that Lycaon wasn't paying attention, I silently mouthed her to give it to Jack. I hadn't noticed Lycaon had turned around until his hand was around my throat. Immediately, I panicked. He had seen and now our last hope was gone. However, when he said, "Staring at your friends won't save you." I was flooded with relief.

Lycaon shoved me forward until I was in front of the dirt woman I assumed was Gaea. I knew very little about Greek mythology but I knew that her being somewhat conscious was not a good thing. Chiron definitely would need to know about this as soon as we could get away. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Jack slowly cutting away at his binds, trying not to make too much movement so he wouldn't draw attention.

"What a lovely girl. Oh yes, I think you will do fine," the dirt woman smiled. She nodded to Lycaon and he kicked the back of my knees until I was kneeling. Gaea reached out her arm resting her hand on my chest. Suddenly there was a pressure in my head and everything began to go hazy. My thoughts were all broken and when I tried to bring them back it was like they were hidden behind a thick wall of fog. When I tried to get up and move in anyway, I found I was unable. My body wasn't responding. A voice came out of my mouth that wasn't mine and I finally realized that Gaea was no longer standing in front of me.

"Stop fighting dear, you won't win. Your body is mine for now," she said. At that moment Jack and David sprung up, brandishing weapons that the little omega must have brought them. I could feel my mouth twist into a smile.

"Lily," Jack questioned, taking a few wary steps forward until David grabbed his arm.

"It's not her. Look at her eyes, they are gold. Her eyes should be green," he said. If I could control my body, I would have probably blushed. David knew my eye color meaning he would have to have looked at my eyes. I couldn't even remember his or Jack's eye colors without looking at them.

"Well boys, what do you say we have some fun? Who do you think will win this little battle? You or your little friend here," Gaea asked. Those words felt like I had been stabbed in the heart. I was going to attack them and I had no way to stop myself. I wasn't even myself at the moment.

Gaea didn't wait for their reply. As soon as those words were out of her mouth, plants and vines burst forth to try and strangle them. At first, they were doing fine. What little hope that I had was soon crushed though. They became overwhelmed and vines soon wrapped around their necks, squeezing tighter and tighter every second. I was filled with panic and rage. How dare this woman try to kill my friends?! How dare she use my own hands to spill their blood?! I fought against her again.

She only laughed and raised her arm, or my arm really. The vines followed the command, lifting them off their feet, floating a foot above the ground, their faces slowly turning purple.

"How does it feel deary? Killing your companions with your own hands," she laughed manically and somewhat hysterically. David let out a spluttering choke that sounded somewhat like my name and it broke my heart. Something shiny fell from his hand onto the grass. Suddenly the small melody that used to play from my locket rang through the air. He had fixed my locket when I angrily cast it aside. Tears fell down my face. Wait...

I was crying! Normally people aren't happy that they are crying, especially when it happens in front of people but I was ecstatic. My crying meant that Gaea didn't have complete control yet, there was still hope. I fought my way through the dense fog in my head but I just couldn't make it through. Then there was the sound of a heart beat. I hadn't realized that we were near the bundle of plants but I was glad we were. The song and the beating combined into one, giving me the strength I needed. One last shove and I broke through the fog. Gaea screamed in rage as she was flung from my body.

I gasped for breath, trying to quell the pounding in my head. Jack and David where dropped to the ground, where they lay coughing and spluttering for the air they had been denied. I hastily clasped the locket around my neck, not wanting to lose it again. As Lycaon angrily charged towards us, I grabbed Akantha from where it had been laying on the ground. He launched himself at me but was intercepted by the little wolf. They rolled around in a flurry of clawing and biting before he flung the wolf off him. He headed back for her and I knew she wouldn't stand a chance against the alpha.

With what little strength I had left, I summoned a vine that wrapped around his neck and lifted him off the ground as well.

"He won't die like that," the little omega said.

"But he will suffer," I growled angrily. We were in the clear, or so I thought. During the struggle I seemed to have forgotten about the pack. Knowing they wouldn't appreciate me attacking their alpha, I ran back to Jack and David, urging them to get up.

"You have to go! Take the wolf with you and go! You need to get back to camp and tell Chiron that Gaea is waking up," I said. The sounds of the wolves running were getting closer and I was starting to panic.

"You have to come back with us," David said already pulling on my arm. I shook my head.

" I have to get to the heart. Without it, everything we fought for just now is for nothing. I will be fine but you need to go now," I explained, pulling away. The pack was in sight now and they didn't seem too happy about the fact that I had just strung up Lycaon.

"Then we'll go with you. We can help," Jack piped up. I once again shook my head.

"Only I and I only can achieve this," I said quoting the voice in my dream. A quick glance back showed the wolves were quickly covering what little distance we had between us. I shoved Jack and David forward, in a desperate attempt to get them to run.

"Go," I yelled already running in the opposite direction towards the heart. I howled hoping to draw more of the pack to me than them. Running in a dress was harder than I thought it would be. The long hem kept getting caught on branches and tripping me up. In my frustration I hacked off part of it so it was above my knees. Unfortunately it seemed that I had taken too many falls because I was tackled to the ground by a heavy furred body. We rolled around for a while, each trying to best the other. It's not hard to figure out that something made of pure muscle would eventually get the best of a human, even if it's half god.

The large beast sank it's teeth into my bicep easily tearing into the soft flesh. The burning pain in my arm was followed by a shot of pure adrenaline. The burst was all I need to shove off the enemy, all the while slashing at it with Akantha. I pushed myself up and desperately ran to the heart. Laying my palm flat against it's warm surface and felt the familiar soothing effect. I could hear the growls and pants of my angry pursuer and urgently whispered, "Open. Let me in."

The large leaves parted a bit and long, velvety vines wrapped themselves around my arm, tugging me inside. The last thing I felt was sharp teeth graze the skin of my ankle.


End file.
